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It would be cool to see an equivalent map for freight rail. These threads always focus on the lack of passenger rail service in the US but ignore that the US a

by quartz 3y ago

It would be cool to see an equivalent map for freight rail. These threads always focus on the lack of passenger rail service in the US but ignore that the US also has one of the largest, safest, and most efficient freight rail systems in the world[1]. I'd love to see it live! https://railroads.dot.gov/rail-network-development/freight-rail-overview https://railroads.dot.gov/rail-network-development/freight-r...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
carbotaniuman 3y ago
It's quite hard to see those sadly due to how freight operators handle traffic - you often have to use word-of-mouth and FB groups to track them. I know there's a lot of railfans that have this data, but I'm not sure it's in a format one can actually use.
toomuchtodo 3y ago
http://tracker.geops.ch/ http://tracker.geops.ch/ https://atcsmon.software.informer.com/ https://atcsmon.software.informer.com/ https://www.rail.watch/rwmon.html https://www.rail.watch/rwmon.html
ryry 3y ago
I did a bit of a deep dive on this over the weekend and left feeling more confused than when I started. From what I can gather, outside of CN's holiday freight train, most of the tracking is done by community members with SDR antennas and Raspberry Pis. They report to centralized servers (which I've yet to find), and the data indicates where trains are in signalling blocks. I'm the least knowledgeable person on trains, so I don't know if this is all accurate, but that's my best understanding. I'd love to build some sort of service that takes this data, references a DB of signaling blocks, and establishes an estimated lat/lng - but that's a huge project of its own.
- bonestamp2 3y ago
  Ya, looks like it goes to a privately run server and the client that accesses the data requires membership. Seems like there should be something like Open ADSB (aircraft) but for trains. I might be interested in working on something like that too.
ZanyProgrammer 3y ago
PSR would like a word with your categorization. Indeed the Class 1s are the mortal enemy of decent intercity and commuter rail.
wpm 3y ago
Define efficient. Profitable? Maybe. Good at moving an array of goods from anywhere in the country to anywhere else? Not so good. The Class I's and their obsession with operating ratio and PSR have strangled freight in this country for decades and pushed costs onto the public by means of increased truck traffic (and the congestion, pollution, and roadway damage that entails). Unless you're shipping bulk chemicals or coal, you're probably gonna use a truck.

by quartz 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

carbotaniuman 3y ago

It's quite hard to see those sadly due to how freight operators handle traffic - you often have to use word-of-mouth and FB groups to track them. I know there's a lot of railfans that have this data, but I'm not sure it's in a format one can actually use.

toomuchtodo 3y ago

http://tracker.geops.ch/ http://tracker.geops.ch/ https://atcsmon.software.informer.com/ https://atcsmon.software.informer.com/ https://www.rail.watch/rwmon.html https://www.rail.watch/rwmon.html

ryry 3y ago

I did a bit of a deep dive on this over the weekend and left feeling more confused than when I started. From what I can gather, outside of CN's holiday freight train, most of the tracking is done by community members with SDR antennas and Raspberry Pis. They report to centralized servers (which I've yet to find), and the data indicates where trains are in signalling blocks. I'm the least knowledgeable person on trains, so I don't know if this is all accurate, but that's my best understanding. I'd love to build some sort of service that takes this data, references a DB of signaling blocks, and establishes an estimated lat/lng - but that's a huge project of its own.

bonestamp2 3y ago
Ya, looks like it goes to a privately run server and the client that accesses the data requires membership. Seems like there should be something like Open ADSB (aircraft) but for trains. I might be interested in working on something like that too.

ZanyProgrammer 3y ago

PSR would like a word with your categorization. Indeed the Class 1s are the mortal enemy of decent intercity and commuter rail.

wpm 3y ago

Define efficient. Profitable? Maybe. Good at moving an array of goods from anywhere in the country to anywhere else? Not so good. The Class I's and their obsession with operating ratio and PSR have strangled freight in this country for decades and pushed costs onto the public by means of increased truck traffic (and the congestion, pollution, and roadway damage that entails). Unless you're shipping bulk chemicals or coal, you're probably gonna use a truck.